There are so many web comics to chose from out there that it is hard to decide which ones to read. Fortunately, I have combed the internet so you don’t have to, reading hours and hours upon web comics and bringing my favorites to this blog. A sacrifice I make for you gladly, dear readers.

Today I am pleased to announce an awesome comic by illustrator and comic artist Kory Bingaman called Skin Deep. The comic chronicles the life of college freshman Michelle Jocasta who discovers by accident that she is not a human, as she thought all her life, but actually the last of the mythic race of sphinxes. As a lover of all things mythological, her plight immediately piqued my interest. A girl whose really a creature? Wow!

Fortunately for Michelle, she is not alone in her creature-ness, for coincidentally (or is it?) her roommate Meriel, and two new college chums Jim and Greg are ALSO creatures. Meriel transforms into a Nixie (sort of like a mermaid) who often swims naked, Liverpool transplant Jim aka THE AWESOME ONE changes into a Gryphon (or griffin, as you’ve seen here) and poor Greg is a Satyr with an immense amount of self-loathing. Together they battle crazy undead sasquatches called Momos, demons with bad attitudes, get cryptid messages from the shade of Michelle’s dead dad and enjoy a healthy dose of sarcasm.

And that brings me to what I like best about the comic – Bingaman’s fantastic sense of humor.Everyone has read their fare share of trite fantasy fare on the internet. However it is clear that while Bingaman is no stranger to the genre, she refuses to play along by its rules simply because others before her have done the same to poor effect. Even the witty descriptions in the cast section of the comic are artfully done, as, for example, when she describes the Momo as “big and strong, big and creepy, big and toothy, big and dead.”

I highly recommend this story to those who like fantasy, as well as those who aren’t huge fans. Come for the art, stay for the funny.